Promises
by rhosinthorn
Summary: When it all faded to white, someone had to be there to continue the story. And that person just happens to be Qrow Branwen. A look at what might have been between scenes in the season three finale (so yes, spoilers).
1. Chapter 1

With the arrival of what could only be called a dragon, there seemed to be no end to the Grimm that spawned from spewing pools of ooze. But Qrow finally helped secure a safe zone in Vale with the help of Glynda and a few of her students. Planes of visitors and students from the Vytal Festival start to land one after another until Qrow could step back and leave the border protection to a few of the nervous looking Beacon students. As each plane landed, the battle-weary huntsman found himself searching for his nieces and their ragtag team of friends. A flash of yellow, a streak of red, even a splash of orange or white in the mass of students rushing from the planes.

After what seemed like eternity, he spotted the blue-haired playboy supporting Yang with the help of the raven-haired Team JNPR member. Rushing over, he froze when he got a good look at his niece. She hung limp between her two friends and seemed otherwise unharmed minus the bleeding wrap where her forearm should have been. Qrow had always been supportive of his nieces training to fight the Grimm, but he had always been ready to step in before any real harm had been inflicted to either of the girls. He began to replay his last conversation with Yang after her disastrous battle until he pushed it aside for the present situation. He knew that reminiscing would get everyone killed at such a time as this.

"What happened?" Qrow asked the students in front of him.

"Blake managed to carry Yang over to the rest of the teams in front of the main gate. None of us know exactly what happened and how Yang ended up like…" the orange-haired girl trailed off. Qrow turned his head to find Yang's other teammate being supported by the girl and the blonde faunus he had seen following Blake.

Blake looked up and found the huntsman's worried gaze. "I'm so sorry," she began to repeat, her slim frame shaking while red began to seep into the bandages wrapped around her side.

Qrow scanned the rest of the teams that stood in support of their wounded friends, but he still couldn't find his younger niece among them. It was nearly impossible to separate the two sisters and Qrow's stomach dropped when he noticed the absence of his fellow scythe user. "Where's Ruby?!"

"She and Weiss stayed back to find Jaune and Pyrrha. We hadn't seen them since Ozpin came looking for Pyrrha," answered the raven-haired one.

So Ozpin _had_ managed to meet up with Pyrrha. He hoped the redhead had chosen to become the new Fall Maiden, but he also mourned for the potential loss of the young woman's loyal personality if the transference process went awry. The roar of a Griffin overhead shocked all those present to stare at the skies. Qrow knew he needed to meet up with Glynda and find Ozpin. If all of the Maiden's protectors could reunite, there was a good chance that they could retake Beacon from the Grimm.

"Alright, take Yang and Blake over to where all the wounded are being treated and make sure they are getting taken care of. If anyone gets in your way, you have my permission to shove them aside and send them to guard the border. I'm going to take the plane and go back to give Ruby and the others support." As soon as Qrow had given orders and started to head for the waiting plane, another voice entered the fray.

"Nora! Ren!" Team JNPR's leader limped over to the others who had just began to make their way to the temporary infirmary. The three teammates hugged for a moment before pulling away. "We have to go back! Pyrrha's still…" Jaune begged before his eyes saw their wounds.

Ren placed his hand on Jaune's shoulder. "I'm sorry Jaune, but none of us are in any condition to go back for them. And you need to get your hands looked at; the sooner you take care of yourself, the sooner you can go help them. You know Weiss and Ruby won't leave until they find Pyrrha."

"I…but…Pyrrha shoved me into a locker and then went back to fight that crazy fire chick. Even with Ruby and Weiss's help, they still can't face her alone!"

Qrow looked at the distraught leader. "She shoved you in a locker?"

"And then sent me here to find you and Glynda," he confirmed.

Qrow's mind continued to spin. Ruby and Weiss had unknowingly started to run head first into a battle with one of the most dangerous people in the world right now. He needed to get back to Beacon, and fast. "Get yourself looked at with the rest of your team, kid," he ordered. "Find Glynda and tell her to join me. I'm going back to Beacon, and I'll need to know where that locker is."

"Why does everyone need a locker?!" Jaune argued.

"Just do as I say! The longer we stand here, the longer it takes for me to go and bring your teammates back," Qrow shouted, frustrated at his current situation.

Jaune slumped in defeat. "It's 5 minutes South of here. You promise that you'll bring all of them back?"

Qrow looked at the teen's face. His dedication to his team reminded Qrow of himself when he was the same age. Nodding, he replied, "Leave the rest to me, kid. Make sure the rest of your team is taken care of. And watch over Yang until Ruby and I get back."

With that last statement, Qrow began to run in the direction that Jaune had indicated. Sure enough, a weapons locker was lodged into the deserted roadway. Qrow hooked his scythe into the top of the locker, set the coordinates for Beacon's main tower, and shot off into the sky.

 *****AN: So, I'm technically not Rhosinthorn – just the beta reader. However, the time jump in the season three finale just wouldn't leave me alone. So I ended up writing and Rhose invited me to post my own story instead of just proofreading like I normally do. I've helped with portions of Rhose's other stories, but this will be the first 'solo' work of mine – so leave your thoughts, comments, and criticisms in the comments so I get an idea of what this whole writing thing is like. Enjoy!*****


	2. Chapter 2

When the locker finally touched down at the main entrance to the academy, Qrow almost didn't recognize it. Stone pathways were upheaved and fire and smoke had started to fill the air. The tower that he usually dragged himself into was only half its usual height. The dragon perched on the new top of the tower would be intimidating if he wasn't worried about the well-being of his niece. Amidst all the darkness and invading Grimm, he managed to spot the young Schnee heiress fighting some of the smaller Grimm. He fought his way over to her, almost laughing at the shock on her face when she noticed him.

"Aren't you…?" she wondered as he killed the Grimm attacking from the left side.

"Yes, I'm Ruby's uncle. Where is she?"

Thankfully, she wasted no time in explaining. "Ruby went to the top of the tower to find Pyrrha and Jaune. There was a flash of light a few minutes ago, and the dragon hasn't moved since then."

"No sign of Ozpin?"

She shook her head. "No. Jaune called us on our scroll and begged us to find Pyrrha. What is going on?"

Things were definitely not good then. Until he got to the top of the tower, he could only guess as to what had happened up there. If anything had gone according to plan, Qrow could only hope that Pyrrha had indeed inherited the Fall Maiden's power and had subdued the dragon to some degree. "Jaune is back with the rest of the teams in the safe area. You've done a good job holding off all these Grimm," he complimented. "I need to get up to the top of the tower."

"I can set my glyphs so you can run up the side of the tower. It works, as long as you and Ruby share similar skills," Weiss offered.

"That will be fine. Once you get me up there, I suggest that you move back a bit." Weiss opened her mouth to protest, but Qrow cut her off. "Don't try to deny it. You've been fighting for a while and I can tell you're getting tired. I'll have Ruby contact you as soon as we're safe and we'll meet up over by the docks."

Weiss nodded curtly and prepared the glyphs for Qrow. A few moments later, she called out, "It's ready."

Without another word, Qrow took off. It felt as though he couldn't reach the top of the tower soon enough. He readied his scythe in preparation for a battle as soon as he reached the top. His eyes immediately searched for the last huntress standing as soon as he reached the top, but no one was ready and waiting to strike at his sudden appearance. A few small fires smoldered on the edges, and half-melted metal indicated that there had been a serious fight between Pyrrha and Cinder. The dragon appeared to be frozen in place, but clearly hadn't been killed based on its very presence. Qrow cautiously lowered his scythe as he continued to scan the wreckage for anyone.

The first person he found was Cinder. She, too, was frozen in place. Her eyes displayed a high level of shock but her mouth had already twisted into a scowl. Qrow roughly pried a metal bow from her stiff hands after noticing it almost hidden behind her scarlet dress. He didn't think it was possible for someone who had stolen half of the Fall Maiden's powers to be frozen, but there she stood immobile in front of him. Now that she was unarmed, Qrow decided that this enemy could wait until he had found Ruby and Pyrrha and made sure they were alright.

Qrow noticed a shining circlet of gold in the rubble not far from Cinder. He didn't remember it belonging to his enemy, but horror flooded his thoughts when he remembered it normally sat upon Pyrrha's head. Slowly, he reached down and picked it up and held it in his hands. It was still slightly warm, and he wished that the fierce warrior hadn't fallen before Ruby had been able to come to her aid. While his heart grieved for the loss of such a young huntress, he knew that he would again have to put aside his feelings for a time where he could nurse them with a flask full of whatever went down the fastest.

Now that he was looking more toward the floor of what used to be Ozpin's office, he quickly spotted a familiar red weapon. Quickly, he walked over and picked up Crescent Rose, finding its owner only feet away from where the weapon lay. Qrow dropped to his knees at the sight of his youngest niece, laying on the ground and unmoving.

"No," he whispered. "No no no no no no no!" Qrow reached for Ruby's pale wrist and found a weak pulse. He allowed a heavy sigh of relief to escape but refused to let any more emotion to come forth as he checked her over for injuries. Thankfully, she wasn't noticeably bleeding from any cuts but a faint white glow surrounded her unconscious form. Theories clouded his mind as to why she would be glowing. Either Pyrrha or Cinder had taken the rest of Amber's powers if the destruction around them was any indication. But the Fall Maiden's powers were typically displayed with an orange or light brown hue around Amber, not a white glow. It was impossible for Ruby to have inherited any of the other Maiden's powers and Qrow knew that her semblance never manifested in this manner.

 _"You have silver eyes,"_ Ozpin's voice echoed in the back of Qrow's mind. Those words sparked the answer for Ruby's current condition. Qrow hadn't thought about the Legend of the Silver Eyes since Ozpin had explained that the legend was actually true. He hadn't believed the headmaster until he had actually seen the ability in action when Summer had been forced to use it to save the team. And even then, he wasn't supposed to have seen it. It was hard not to find the similarities between Summer and Ruby; like mother like daughter, Qrow mused.

Besides the extreme mental and physical exhaustion that his niece was undoubtedly experiencing at the moment, Qrow determined that Ruby would survive the Battle of Beacon. "It's alright," he whispered. He wasn't sure if she could hear him, but he figured that she could use a bit of support at the moment. "I got you, kid."

Qrow looked around the tower once more before realizing that nothing more could be done at the moment. He would have to settle with the dragon being frozen and take care of it another day. Right now, he had two nieces that needed a guardian and needed someone to be there for them. Qrow let his scythe condense back into its sword form and sheathed it back into the harness on his back. Pushing the gold circlet up past his elbow, he gently lifted Ruby into his arms and switched Crescent Rose into the shotgun mode. With one last look at the ruins of Ozpin's office, he stepped off the tower and used Crescent Rose to slow his fall to a space of walkway that wasn't overrun by Grimm.

Weiss met him only moments after he had thudded to the ground, apparently quick enough to recognize the sight of Crescent Rose in use, and foolish enough to ignore his instructions to wait by the docks. Qrow saw her face fall when she saw her partner unconscious in his arms.

"Ruby!" She cried. "Is she alright?"

"She should be fine. There was…a lot of power up there. She just needs to rest for a while."

"Is the dragon dead?"

"Not exactly. Frozen in place might be a better way to describe it."

"And where is Pyrrha? Is she safe?" Weiss questioned.

This was the part that Qrow was dreading. He hadn't even thought about what he might tell the rest of Ruby's friends about Pyrrha's death. Ruby was the only one who had probably witnessed exactly what had happened on the tower, but she wasn't going to be waking up anytime soon to confirm his suspicions. He opened his mouth to reply, but found that there weren't words to explain what had happened to their friend. Taking the coward's way out, he opted to move his arm so the golden circlet was in plain view.

Tears began to fill the young heiress's eyes. "No…Pyrrha…" she started to say. Qrow could tell that she was trying to keep it together, but the first loss of a friend was always the hardest to cope with for younger huntsmen and huntresses. He watched her wipe away some of the tears on her face before addressing him again. "We need to meet back with the others."

Qrow nodded, and the two made their way over to the docks. It took a long time for James and Glynda to find a plane and pilot it over to Beacon. Qrow knew that he looked exhausted, from both the fighting and the emotional toil of finding his nieces in such poor conditions. Once James and Glynda got over their initial shock at seeing him, he quickly explained that the dragon was frozen in place for the time and that going back to the safe zone was the best idea at the moment. Weiss mutely boarded the ship with Qrow not following too far behind.

Once he had set Ruby in one of the passenger seats, James caught his arm. "What about Ozpin? Was there any sign of him?"

Qrow shook his head. "None. It seems that either Cinder or Pyrrha was able to acquire the rest of Amber's powers and fought Ozpin at some point. Without knowing where Ozpin is, there's no hope of us reclaiming the academy right now."

James hesitated before asking the other question. "And the other girl, Pyrrha? What of her?"

Qrow sighed and made sure Glynda was in earshot before answering. "She didn't make it."

Both adults quietly took in this piece of information, and then left to ready the plane for the flight back to the safe zone. Not a word would be said between the three of them, but all of them knew that whatever had just happened – whatever force had just been unleashed – they owed it to Pyrrha, the students, and the citizens of Vale to finish the war that they had secretly been planning for even without Ozpin's leadership to show them the way.

The flight back to the safe zone was as quiet as their sullen departure from the once great academy. Qrow sat next to Ruby and continued to make sure that she was still breathing in her weakened state. He wasn't the only one watching over his niece; he noted that Weiss kept looking over towards her teammate and then wiping tears from her eyes and looking at the destruction on the ground from the plane's small window. As soon as the plane touched down, Qrow carried Ruby in his arms once again over to the make-shift infirmary.

The rest of her friends from Beacon were either sitting near or laying on blankets in the cold stone building that had been left relatively untouched by the fighting. Flanked by Weiss, Qrow found an empty place and grunted a thanks out when one of her other friends handed him a blanket to lay her on. The heiress sat down next to her as Qrow stood up and scanned the room for his other niece.

"Yang?" He asked.

"They're finishing looking at her…injury…and bandaging it. They said they would bring her back out here as soon as they were finished," Sun provided quietly.

Jaune pushed past Sun and looked at Qrow desperately. "Where's Pyrrha?"

"Look, kid. I.." Qrow trailed off. He could tell that the young team leader loved the redhead, and if Qrow didn't say this properly, he'd probably send the kid spiraling down the same road that he was drunkenly stumbling about on.

"Where is she?" Jaune repeated.

Qrow looked down at the dusty floor. He had made a promise to his kid, and now he had to break it to him that he was going to be spectacularly let down. Quietly sliding the golden circlet off of his arm, he held it in his two hands. Taking a deep breath, he held it out to the blonde teen. "I promised I'd bring her back."

The teen just stared at the offered headpiece in shock. "No, you're wrong. Pyrrha was one of the best fighters in Beacon. There's just no way that…that she would…" Jaune's voice broke as he took the circlet in his shaking hands. He dropped to his knees and slammed his bandaged fist into the floor as tears began to run down his face. "If she had only gone with me instead of trying to do it alone!" His tears erupted into sobs as he repeated Pyrrha's name until Ren and Nora came over and joined him on the floor.

Qrow watched as the remains of Team JNPR sat huddled together on the floor, crying and failing to except that their teammate – their friend – was actually gone. That they had seen her for the last time and she wasn't about to fight her way back to them. And that's how Qrow left them; broken, crying, injured, and frightened after the events of the day. He would be there for Yang and Ruby as soon as he could, but for now it wasn't his place to be in that room with them.

The events and fatigue of the day threatened to catch up with him as soon as he had left the infirmary building, but James and Glynda were both waiting for him outside and the three walked into another quiet building. James pulled out his flask and took a swig from it, wiping his mouth with his tattered sleeve and passing it to Glynda. Normally the uptight huntress wouldn't go near the stuff, but she quickly took a sip as well and grimaced as the burn hit her throat. The flask finally made its way to Qrow, and without a second thought he tipped his head back, took a long sip, and let the alcohol do it's magic.

The three adults stood there in silence for a moment, each of them processing what had happened and what they needed to do. And once they came to the conclusion that it still wasn't time to stop and grieve, they headed out the door and stormed their way to the edge of the parameter. The thousands of frightened citizens and students needed someone to take charge, and Qrow knew that his drunken self was the best they could get right then.

AN: First off, I forgot to add the disclaimer to my first chapter so just as a reminder, I own none of this and Roosterteeth does. Secondly, has it really been over a month since I started this? Truth be told, this second chapter was written a few weeks ago but I haven't had the time to edit it until now. This one is much longer than my first chapter, and Qrow's conversation with Jaune was the first idea I had for this fanfic so I'm glad to finally share this. As always, let me know how I'm doing in the comments! I loved getting a little bit of feedback on my first chapter so keep 'em coming.


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